Popularity: Nielsen looked at the numbers over a 12-month period and found that [The Office] accounted for 45.8 billion minutes watched compared to the Netflix original “Stranger Things,” which clocked in at 27.6 billion minutes.

2. Demographic

3. Structure

4. The Look of the Program and its Codes

The Office reflects on the life of ordinary people who work in offices and uses ordinary situations to relate to those of us who watch the show. In the show we see Jim getting bored at work and pranking Dwight, Stanley leaving as soon as the clock says 5:00pm, small birthday parties in the conference room, and a boss that crosses the line a lot in the workplace environment.

Some examples of relatable and ordinary personal issues can be traced back to characters like Michael and Todd Packer who are characters that are constantly pushing uncomfortable boundaries within the workplace. Jim is a character that wants more for himself and makes that known in later seasons when he leaves to pursue a career within the sports industry but this leaves a strain on his relationship with Pam which many couples can relate to when they are trying to choose a career and a family.

2. Demographic

The program "hails" it's main character Michael Scott, the boss of Dunder Mifflin's Scranton Branch. The audience is expected to root for Michael even though he may be a flawed character, the audience empathizes with him and wants him to succeed. Throughout the show Michael struggles with finding a perfect love interest. When he finally meets Holly the audience finds he is his best self with her. It takes a while but eventually he ends up with her and this is where Michael's story ends in the show.

The demographic the show aims to appeal to is the working class and those beginning their careers because the show is all about the lives of those working in an office.

3. Structure

At the beginning of every episode of The Office there is a scene that doesn't exactly correlate to the rest of the episode, it is a part of the show that is aimed to make the audience laugh at the stupidity of its characters. The show then goes into it's theme song and usually starts with the mockumentary interviews that will explain the issue of this specific episode.

Yes, unlike most sitcoms, each episode builds off each other and lucky for this show, The Office was able to have a complete beginning, middle and end throughout the series. 

4. The Look of the Program and its Codes

The Office was filmed at an indoor studio in California; events usually take place inside of the office in the suburban Scranton, PA but there are some instances that they take place elsewhere like Florida, in restaurants like Chili's for the Dundies, or in our main characters homes like Dwight's for Andy's party. During the theme song we see some clips of Scranton letting the audience know where we are.

The set feels realistic and natural through the use of props you would usually see in a real office, paper, a printer, plenty of desks, office attire for the cast, very neutral colors (browns and grays), staplers, pens and pencils, etc.